You're Not Really Human
by A.D. Williams
Summary: It's Sora's eighteenth birthday and in a world where Nobodies, Heartless, and keyblades do NOT exist, what could go wrong? Oh nothing too much...except for the tiny revelation that he's not human. Nothing says "Happy birthday!" like a healthy dose of interspecies identity crisis.


This story was based off of a writing prompt I found online and figured I'd convert it for fanfiction! Here's the initial prompt:

"It's your 18th birthday and, upon it, your parents deliver some pretty shocking news: You're not really human. They admit that they've been covering up the fact that you are actually a (fill in the blank). After hearing the news you still decide to go to school, but this school day is different than all your school days past, especially when it's revealed to others what you truly are. Write this scene."

This is going to be more AU than canon to the original Kingdom Hearts storyline since having the abilities from the game would kind of diminish the point of the prompt :) Enjoy!

* * *

**You're Not Really Human**

"Sora, before you leave today, your father and I need to talk to you."

Sora's hand paused halfway to his mouth, a bite of waffle falling off his fork. "Uhh…uh-huh," he mumbled, looking down at his plate. This couldn't bode well.

What was it that they had to discuss with him? Sure, it was his eighteenth birthday and he was graduating in a few weeks. He then would naturally fall into the graduate circle of life by going to college but with only a vague interest of what he wanted to do. That's not what this was going to be about, was it?

Or maybe, they were going to give him a present! He hadn't asked for anything, feeling too old to ask for gifts and he did have a part-time job. But his mother had been kind enough to make his favorite breakfast of homemade waffles; he could still receive presents too, right? But when did giving a present require him having to have a talk? Unless it was one of those presents that required great responsibility—

And then Sora gasped; they were going to give him a car! That's it, it _had _to be! Hadn't they talked for years about getting a new vehicle? They finally got a new one and were going to give him the old one, which had been around since he was three, but who cares. He was finally getting some wheels!

He finished the rest of his breakfast and all but Frisbee'd his plate into the sink. With barely contained giddiness, he sat on the couch in front of his parents and beamed them an innocent smile. "So! What'dya wanna talk about?"

They looked at each other for a moment and then looked at him. "Sora…you're eighteen today," began his father.

He nodded at them. _Yes, we've already ascertained that. Let's not be grandiose here, can I just have the damn car? _"Yep, I'm finally legal," he smiled.

"I'm…sure you're very excited about that," his mother said, and cast another look at his father. "And at this age, you're going to go through many…changes…"

Sora blinked. "Didn't we have this conversation when I was like, twelve?"

They shook their heads and his mother added, "This is different."

_For some reason, I'm no longer foreseeing a vehicle on the end of this conversation, _Sora sulked. He looked down at his watch, which had actually been broken for about a week, and stated, "I need to hurry and get to school. Can this wait?"

It was his father that said it. "Sora, you're a merman."

He blinked again before laughing and shaking his head. "Wow, that's bad even by your standards! Look, I gotta get going. Anyone seen my backpack?" He looked around the living room where he thought he had deposited it earlier that day.

"Sora, this is serious," his mother said, standing up to reveal the backpack that had been placed behind her. "_We're _serious. You're a merman."

Sora continued to smile and even tilted his head to the side. "Sure thing, mom. Why not go ahead and give me my letter to Hogwarts while you're at it."

"We're merpeople," his father continued where his mother left off and ignoring Sora's sarcasm. "On our eighteenth birthday, our true form awakens. We've learned to adapt to live on land but it is crucial that we visit the ocean at least once a month on the full moon."

_Right, and with that, we're done here! _"Great story, mom, dad. I'm off. Love ya, bye!" He grabbed his backpack from behind his mother and ran out the door. It was only a ten minute walk to the school and at the corner of the road, he met up with Kairi and Riku who, as usual, were waiting for him.

"Happy birthday, Sora!" Kairi hugged him. After all this time, he hadn't gotten the courage to make a move but was content for the time being to still be friends.

He and Riku did a bro fistbump (Sora wasn't sure when it began…) and Riku also wished him a happy birthday before asking, "So, what's on the agenda today? Any birthday plans?"

Already, Sora had put the incident with his parents behind him. He shook his head and shrugged. "I dunno. We could go bowling?" Riku had a car of his own (gifted to him on his sixteenth birthday. One more reason to be jealous of him).

His friends readily agreed and thus Sora eagerly looked forward to the end of the school day.

~.~.~

With final exams coming up, most of the classes for the seniors had been transformed into study periods or the teachers had begun to shift their focus onto college prep. Even though Sora still had no idea of what he wanted to do, he and Riku had already planned to go to the same college on the mainland just off of Destiny Island. Kairi was to be the valedictorian and had picked to study further from home. He wondered what it was going to be like, not having her there for the first time since he was five.

He glanced down at his webbed hands that were tapping his pencil on the paper—

Sora choked and looked down again. No…they were fingers. Ordinary fingers, ten individual digits. He looked up to see if anyone else had noticed. He happened to be in one of his college prep classes and half the room was in varying degrees of zoning out. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straighter. Maybe he was just tired. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep due to the excitement of his birthday. His mind was playing tricks on him.

He made sure to pay full attention for the rest of the class and when the bell rang, he was the first to run out the door.

~.~.~

The rest of the morning classes went without incident and around noon, he met up with Kairi and Riku for lunch.

"My lap time is getting better each day," Riku stated by way of greeting as they stood in line with their trays. "Coach says that if I keep this up, we're definitely winning regionals."

Kairi clapped her hands and beamed at him and Sora would be lying if he said he didn't feel another pang of jealously then. "That's awesome! I kind of wish I had joined the swim team; then I could have unlimited access to the pool."

Sora swallowed and looked away. He'd forgotten that Riku was on the swim team. Any other time that wouldn't have bothered him. Ugh, he was letting his parents get to him! No, he _must _stay strong!

"The votes are finally in on the prom theme," Kairi told them, shuffling up a few feet as the line moved. She was on the student council committee as well and was going to be helping with the prom decorations. "I'm not supposed to tell you guys until they announce it, buuuut…"

Ready for a distraction, Sora gladly leaned in closer.

"The theme this year is Under the Sea! Isn't that going to be amazing?"

"…ecstatic," Sora deadpanned and said nothing further on the matter.

Finally at the head of the line, he sullenly awaited for the cafeteria workers to place the day's mystery contents on his plate. He had deemed to keep his head down and meekly follow the queue, but the last section was for picking a dessert and he figured it wouldn't hurt to treat himself to one of the slices of chocolate cake.

The worker behind the counter slid it to him before he could even ask and said, "Happy birthday!" with a wink, tucking a strand of hair behind an ear that looked as though it belonged more to a water sprite.

Sora barely hid his scream as he grabbed his food and all but ran away. He sat down and put his face in his hands, wanting nothing more than to rock back and forth but had enough awareness to know that he didn't want everyone to know that he was losing his mind. When Riku and Kairi sat down across from him, they gave each other worrying looks, not unlike the ones that Sora's parents had traded earlier that day.

"…you gonna be alright, man?" Riku asked, trying to sound casual. "You're acting kind of…off."

"You haven't had any paopu fruit juice, have you?" Kairi asked, putting a hand on his. He flinched but shook his head. She nodded back at him, saying, "That's good. You really drew the short stick on that one to be part of the 0.3% that has adverse effects if you drink it. It's kind of like an LSD trip for you."

Yes, Sora remembered all too well the hallucinations of his youth after drinking what was then his favorite beverage. After a week-long delirium in which he _swore _to his friends that he could wield something called a 'keyblade' and that they had to save multiple worlds alongside Mickey Mouse, paopu fruit juice was forever banned from Sora's household. And along with this revelation went Sora's dreams of ever sharing a paopu with Kairi.

But Sora didn't have that as an excuse this time to explain what was going on. As his friends were waiting on an answer, Sora forced himself to stop trembling and said, "I thought I saw a spider on the wall but it was just a box of hairnets."

It was weak but it worked. Riku and Kairi both launched into tirades on the creepiness of spiders and Sora's panic attack was forgotten.

~.~.~

However, by the end of the day, Sora's nerves were shot.

In P.E., he had blocked a shot during their soccer game, not with his feet, but with a tailfin, his shoes being kicked off by the sudden appendage. When he landed, he was on his back and surrounded by his teammates who were cheering for him and helped him to his…feet. Skin and toes, not a hint of scales to be seen. He quickly picked up his shoes and hurried back to the dressing rooms, muttering the entire way.

Later, he stopped at a water fountain in the hallway to get a sip. Just as the cool water was running down his throat…it disappeared. He frowned down at the stream coming out as he pressed the button and tried it again. But almost as soon as the water hit his tongue, it was no longer there.

Behind him was another kid who was getting impatient. "Why don't you save some for the fishes?" the kid yelled.

_Haha, hil-arious,_ Sora wanted to say. Instead, he slowly brought his hand up to his collar. His shirt was wet. _No. You have _got _to be kidding me…_

He trailed the hand up past his collar and to his neck. By this point, he was panting and knew he was close to tweaking out in public again but he couldn't fight it. As his hand went higher, he could _feel _his breath as naturally as though it were coming from his mouth.

_It's okay, Sora. So what, you have gills? I mean, they're just gills. Ordinary, everyday—oh my fucking god, I have GILLS!_

"Gyaaaaaaaaaahh!" Sora shrieked and tore down the hallway, leaving the other kid to look questioningly and fearfully at the water fountain.

When the day finally ended, Sora clutched his bag to his body and all but ran outside. He was muttering to himself again, already going over the fact that he was going to head straight home and just call Kairi and Riku to let them know that their evening plans were cancelled. He had almost made it off the school grounds when his eye happened to catch the blue expanse of the school pool.

Sitting on the edge was a mermaid. Her hair was pulled back to reveal the amphibian ears and her tail swayed casually in the water. Others who held the appearance of humans swam around her, seemingly undaunted by her presence. She had been sitting with her head tilted back, enjoying the afternoon sun, but she opened her eyes when Sora passed. She gave a friendly wave to him.

Sora didn't wave back. In fact, he was about to yell for her to leave him alone when Riku and Kairi appeared at his side. "Hey, you were about to leave without us!" Kairi mock-pouted.

Riku was the first to notice that Sora again didn't seem right. "Don't tell me you saw another spider…?"

"…I really think I'm having a meltdown," Sora whispered, clutching his head as though his brains would fall out otherwise. "Look at the pool…and please tell me you guys also see the mermaid sitting there."

His friends didn't even deign to look; both snorted laughing.

"I'm serious! She's _right there_!" He pointed to the pool, but the girl had all but disappeared. The last vestige he saw was her broad, emerald tailfin slipping under the water.

"Hey Sora? Are you positive you're okay?" Kairi asked gently. Sora hated that tone in her voice.

But if he'd gone this far, he might as well go the whole way. He tilted his neck to the side and said, "Tell me at least you can see these," he pointed to his gills.

This time, they did look but both only blinked stupidly at him before their concerned expressions grew deeper. Kairi leaned over and whispered something to Riku and Riku nodded.

"Um, Sora…we'd like to talk to you," Riku began.

_Hell no! _"Pass!" Sora shouted out and ran the short distance back home.

Once inside, he made a direct beeline to the living room to where his parents were at, as though they hadn't left there at all. In a shrill voice he barely recognized as his own, he informed them "It's all true! I'm turning into a merman! Does this make you happy? That I'm part _fish_?!"

"It's not just you, Sora," his mother said casually. "Did you notice any other merpeople today? Now that you have awakened, you'll be able to see others like us."

Sora sat down and put his fingers in his thick, pointed hair. "Some awakening. Why couldn't you have warned me about this earlier?"

There they go exchanging looks again. His father answered this time. "If you had known earlier, do you think you would've made friends as easily? Knowing you were vastly different from them? We wanted you to enjoy your childhood. Riku and Kairi are quite endeared to you; I'm sure all of you will work through this and your friendship will be even stronger."

Sora wanted to say something along the lines that they shouldn't have to work through anything as this wasn't a simple friendship spat. This was going to be a lifelong adjustment. Instead he said, "Just what are the benefits—if any—to being a merperson? Really, what's so special about us?"

This time, it was his parents turn to snort. "You mean excluding the fact that you can breathe under water meaning you can stay submerged indefinitely?" his father said.

"Yeah, except for that."

His mother supplied, "We're renown for our musical voices and we can communicate with any aquatic life."

Sora's jaw literally fell open. "_That's it_?! Isn't the singing usually used to lure fishermen to their death?"

"In olden days, yes," his mother agreed, waving the thought away. "Never said we were always considerate of others before our own wants. Look at the human race, the same can be said about them, past _and _present."

"And the talking to aquatic life? Because, you know, I love talking to my seafood before I eat it."

His father supplied, "Not all creatures can speak or understand reason. We're at the top of the foodchain for our kind and thus we eat those that are…not able to understand logic like us. It's also similar to how humans will eat other land mammals."

_No…that's more like comparing apples to oranges, _Sora thought but let it drop for the time being. His cellphone at that time chose to go off and he looked down at the display.

Riku.

Well, he was going to have to break it to his friends one way or another. Might as well not prolong the inevitable. "Yo," he answered.

"Hey, we gotta talk. Would you mind meeting me and Kairi by the paopu tree? " Riku didn't need to emphasize which one; it was the same one that had faithfully grown sideways since they were kids.

Sora agreed, already heading out the door as he hung up. He was there in three minutes, though Riku and Kairi were already waiting for him.

"What's up?" He asked casually. Maybe he could play it smooth and get them to talk first before he had to say anything.

Kairi looked up at him and gave him a sheepish smile; Sora's heart melted. "Today kinda sucked, didn't it? Here it is, your eighteenth birthday and yet you don't look like you had any fun."

_No, I would say my day was pretty anti-fun_, Sora conceded but only shrugged.

Riku huffed a grin and said, "That's why we decided to stop trolling you and come clean. Kairi and I had been waiting for this day for _years_! But our families made us swear we wouldn't let on that we knew what was going to happen until you knew it yourself."

Sora looked between both of them, seeing Kairi's face also split into a smile. "Wait, you guys knew today that I'd turn into a merman?"

"Doesn't it sound kind of ridiculous when said out loud like that?" Kairi said to Riku, which made both of them laugh.

"Laugh all you want to!" their younger friend pouted, almost turning away . "But I _am _turning into a merman!"

"Oh, we know!" Riku said. "Your merpeople culture though says to not let anyone under eighteen know about it until that specific birthday. Trust us, Sora, we wanted to tell you but we couldn't."

Kairi paused in her laughing to shake her head in amazement. "At least in _our _culture, we're told what we are from the time we're able to understand words. That way we learn how to cope with it from an early age."

Riku was indifferent but Sora froze. "…what do you mean, 'our culture'?"

Kairi tossed a handful of red hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "I'm a unicorn."

Sora tried to process that. Kairi…as a unicorn? He'd _have _to see that! And…what if one day he did get around to asking her out? Did unicorns date mermen? What if they got married? Had kids? What would they look like? _Our children…would be seahorses! _

Riku plucked a paopu off of the tree and idly ate it, no superstitions about eating one to yourself. "Yeah, well, I'm a Nyan Cat."

Sora waited patiently for the punchline. When Riku continued to eat his fruit with no sign of caving, he asked, "You're screwing with us, right? Isn't Nyan Cat that internet meme with the cat that's half Poptart that flies around crapping rainbows?"

Riku seemed to take great offense to this and gave an exasperated sigh. "See, they _always _portray us incorrectly! We don't crap rainbows! We piss excellence! And we're not made of Poptarts! It's…closer to what humans would call a Toaster Strudel. Our organs just so happen to be a jellied, sweet consistency that's appealing to most other species. Thus, we don't transform often as we've nearly been hunted into extinction. This said, I tell you all of this with utmost trust that I won't wake up to find either of you have stuck a fork in me."

Sora cast a sideways glance at Riku. _And yet they wonder about _my _reactions to paopu juice._

"Now that we've gotten everything out on the table, are we still going bowling?" Kairi asked them. "You're only going to show the hints of being a merman for today, Sora. It's not the full moon so you won't transform completely."

And what a relief that was! Now that they'd shed their secrets, Sora happily agreed. On his way back to his house to get ready, he noticed how the waves crashed strongly against the rocky shore, surely too dangerous to go swimming at that point. Yet several people had gathered there, enjoying the ocean sprays and warming in the final rays of the sunlight.

Sora didn't even need to look closely to know they were merpeople. Instinctively, they caught his eye and waved, shouting out their congratulations.

This time, Sora heartily waved back.

* * *

In the near future, I'll probably do several one-shots based off of writing prompts as they help to get the creative juices flowing :) I got this prompt from the Writers Digest website. Comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
